The present disclosure relates to techniques for correcting round-off errors which arise during financial calculations.
Financial calculations are performed in a wide variety of applications, such as when calculating numbers to enter into financial statements or income-tax returns. The values computed in financial calculations are typically rounded off, for example, to the nearest dollar.
However, using rounded values financial calculations can cause problems. For example, after rounding, a resulting financial value of a financial calculation typically has a rounding error. Moreover, when the rounded values are aggregated, the total rounding error can increase. Therefore, rounding values in financial calculations can degrade the quantitative accuracy of the financial calculation (which can undermine confidence in the results of the financial calculation). Indeed, some financial professionals address this problem by adding footnotes to reports that include the results of financial calculations, which indicate that the financial calculations may not fully add up because of round-off errors. Alternatively, many financial professionals correct the total rounding error at the end of a financial calculation, but this can be time-consuming and can introduce additional errors.